RETURNING CHAMPIONS MUTAI AND DADO TAKE ON KIPROTICH AND KIPLAGAT IN NEW YORK

Published by IAAF on November 1, 2013

As an electrifying 2013 marathon season draws to a close, the 2013 ING New York City Marathon – an IAAF Gold Label Road Race – on Sunday (3) looks like a flashback to the last record-breaking Marathon year of 2011.

There’s a good reason for that. Because of the last-minute cancellation of the 2012 race in the aftermath of the super-storm known as Sandy, New York’s “defending champions”, Firehiwot Dado and Geoffrey Mutai, have held their titles for two years. Both return, two years later, but the marathon-running world has changed around them.

“Wait until next year” is a cry often associated with losing teams in other sports, but for Mutai the extra year may have been a blessing. After breaking course records in both Boston and New York in 2011 – the former in a jaw-dropping 2:03:02 which makes him the fastest marathon runner ever under any conditions – his 2012 season often seemed like a procession of disappointments, most notably an injury-plagued DNF in Boston, though he did clock a victory in Berlin in the autumn, perhaps in the end relieved not to be defending his title in New York.

While his marathon running has been unimpressive in 2013, two indicators suggest that Mutai might be ready to light up the scoreboard again in New York. First, his results in shorter races have been on a par with his performances in 2011, the year he ran 2:05:06 to take more than two minutes off the old record for New York’s five-borough course. And second, his training partners have run the table of the other autumn World Marathon Majors, with Wilson Kipsang running a World record of 2:03:23 (pending ratification) in Berlin and Dennis Kimetto following up with a course record of 2:03:45 in Chicago.

Mutai now has the motivation and opportunity to put a flourish on the season with a win – ideally a fast one – in New York.